This year over 300 proposals were submitted by artists from around the world. The jury included Hans Ulrich Obrist, co-director of Exhibitions and Programmes and Director of International Projects at the Serpentine Gallery, London; Jonathan Lethem, author of The Ecstasy of Influence; Caitlin Jones, Executive Director of Western Front; Renny Gleeson of Weiden + Kennedy; and Lauren Cornell, Executive Director of Rhizome.

“At its core, this project is a lifestyle,” Murphy said in her Rhizome Commission Proposal about her practice of engaging in “meditative computer mind work mode for large chunks of time.” The $4800 supports Murphy’s goal of “expanding my labyrinth while publicly exploring the creative-spiritual uses of the personal computer.”

Watch an Alumni Profile video on Oregon Painting Society, a group with roots at PNCA that Murphy helped form.

On the Expanding Labyrinth Proposal page, Murphy writes, “[f]or the past two years, I have been steadily weaving a digital labyrinth for meditation and exploration. The labyrinth is carved into the shared netscape through a series of linked web pages that contain talismanic arrangements of images, videos and sounds. All of the work is generated from my daily creative experimentation with computer graphics programs. For me, graphics programs are spiritual tools that allow one to psychedelically engage with the fabric of reality. I’m deeply committed to pushing the innovative possibilities inherent in these contemporary folk art tools. My labyrinth of pages is an active public record of my explorations. I propose to direct a rhizome commission toward the expansion of this project over the course of the next year. I am requesting a monthly salary to support me in this full time endeavor.”